Spireites Looking For A Handout

Chesterfield FC are the latest club to be looking for new investment after Chairman and majority owner Dave Allen quit the club at their AGM.

Allen, a former Sheffield Wednesday Chairman, says he originally invested £4million into the club for a majority shareholding but the cash demands meant he put in millions more after his 2009 arrival.

The local press reports he put in £200,000 last month to cover the wage bill, and his sudden departure left the rest of the board, and supporters, stunned. Vice Chairman Dave Jones, asked by local paper The Star whether the club would fold, could only manage a less than confident: “I don’t know, I don’t think so.”

Allen says he walked out after his fellow Directors apparently declined to waive interest payments on their loans to the club and not seek repayment of the loans: "The interest alone amounts to just over £150,000 per annum, so it would be a considerable saving."

With a £2million mortgage also outstanding on their six year old stadium and a string of outstanding charges registered at Companies House, it is difficult to see anyone bailing the club out unless Allen - or the rest of the board - have a sudden change of heart.

Debts totaling more than £500,000, in addition to unspecified charges in the names of current Directors (or their companies) and Allen's A&S Leisure, appear at Companies House in 37 separate charges recorded against the club.

The Star estimates that it will cost £9million to clear out Allen's majority shareholding and loans but, with the club rooted to the foot of League One and facing a bleak winter, it will be a brave 'investor' that steps into Allen's shoes at that price.